Winter Opera's 'Cosi fan Tutte' Delivers Music and Laughs: Opera Review | Features | laduenews.com Winter Opera's 'Cosi fan Tutte' Delivers Music and Laughs: Opera Review Jan 25, 2016 (…) Story: Two Italian officers, Ferrando and Guglielmo, are excited about their upcoming marriages to sisters Dorabella and Fiordiligi, respectively. Their delight is challenged, however, by Don Alfonso, a mature and cynical philosopher. Alfonso wagers the boastful young men that their ladies will not remain faithful to them, since that is the way of all women (‘cosi fan tutte’). The officers accept Alfonso’s bet and pretend to their fiancées that they are bound for the battlefront. Soon after their supposed departure, they return to the ladies’ home disguised as a pair of dashing Albanian adventurers who proceed to woo Dorabella and Fiordiligi. With the help of the women’s deceptive maid Despina, the wheels are set in motion for all to prove that a woman’s fidelity is only fiction.

Highlights: Strong voices and Mozart’s festive music combine to make this a pleasant offering from Winter Opera under the passionate conducting of Nicholas Giusti and careful stage direction of Corrine Hayes. Other Info: Cosi fan Tutte, which premiered in Vienna in 1790, is an opera buffa (‘comic opera’) that features music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and a libretto by Lorenzo de Ponte. One of Mozart’s most popular operas, Cosi fan Tutte made its American debut in 1922. It’s a good fit for Winter Opera’s philosophy of staging a smaller show in the middle of its three-production season. While it’s humorous and entertaining, the Winter Opera version trudged along at three hours, including intermission. Thankfully Mozart’s delightfully sprightly music can carry a rendition that can test one’s stamina. Integral to the success of Winter Opera’s effort was uniformly splendid singing by the primary performers. Company founder and soprano Gina Galati teamed with Sarah Nordin, a mezzo-soprano based in New York City, as the fiancées Fiordiligi and Dorabella, respectively.

They handled their arias with considerable poise and polish, milking the comic moments in de Ponte’s libretto along the way. Baritone Christopher Holmes paired with tenor Daniel Gerdes as the buffoonish gentlemen, Guglielmo and Ferrando, respectively, a pair of young military officers more impressed with their sway over their fiancées than with any semblance of character in themselves or the young women. Both men have a good time hamming it up as the odd pair of rakish foreigners who coincidentally show up to woo the two young women just as their fiancés supposedly march off to war. The officers become predictably indignant when their women, Dorabella quicker than Fiordiligi, seem to fall under the sway of their foreign enchanters. Dressed imaginatively in their garish finery by costume designer JC Krajicek, they are all too easily manipulated by the cunning Don Alfonso, played and sung smoothly by baritone Kevin Wetzel like a maestro masterfully moving his musicians through an intricate score. Leading the performers in their acting chores was a fiery Lily Guerrero as Despina, servant to Fiordiligi and Dorabella.

Guerrero grandly interpreted the servant’s saucy demeanor as she urges the two ladies to get out and have some fun while their fiancés are away. It’s a plum role and one that Guerrero handled with style and considerable persuasion. Scott Loebl’s scenic design not only featured a grand courtyard for the various rendezvous and clandestine meetings that occur but also a pair of handsomely painted portraits by Loebl of the two soldiers with smug countenances that are used as props in several scenes. Sean Savoie’s lighting bathed the settings in a beautiful array of colors. Giusti led the Winter Opera orchestra with a spirited reading of the uplifting score and Hayes kept the performers focused on their characters and their endless charade of nobility. While the pacing too often lagged, particularly in the second act, the music of the master Mozart and a number of splendid singing performances made Winter Opera’s Cosi fan Tutte an enjoyable experience. Opera: Cosi fan Tutte OPERA NEWS - Metropolitan Opera Broadcast: Così Fan Tutte Metropolitan Opera Broadcast: Così Fan Tutte Radio Broadcast and Live in HD Transmission of Saturday, April 26, 12:55 P.M.

(HD), 1 P.M. (Radio) The sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella are discomfited by the presence of Ferrando and Guglielmo (Polenzani, Pogossov, Phillips, Leonard) © Johan Elbers 2014 The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor, The Neubauer Family Foundation. Bloomberg is the global corporate sponsor of The Met: Live in HD. The HD Broadcasts are supported by Toll Brothers, America's luxury home builder®. The 2013–14 Metropolitan Opera broadcast season is sponsored by Toll Brothers, America's luxury home builder®, with generous long-term support from The Annenberg Foundation, The Neubauer Family Foundation, the Vincent A. Stabile Endowment for Broadcast Media, and through contributions from listeners worldwide.

Così Fan Tutte Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte THE CAST (in order of vocal appearance) Ferrando Set and costume designer: Michael Yeargan Lighting designer: Duane Schuler Assistant stage director: Gregory Keller Harpsichord continuo: Howard Watkins Production a gift of Alberto Vilar Additional funding from the Metropolitan Opera Club; the Denenberg Foundation in honor of Dan Denenberg; The DuBose and Dorothy Heyward Memorial Fund; and Mr. and Mrs. Samuel L. Tedlow Revival a gift of DOLCE & GABBANA This performance is also being broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SiriusXM channel 74. Music producer: Jay David Saks Producers: Mary Jo Heath, Ellen Keel, William Berger Directed for Live Cinema by: Gary Halvorson or e-mail metquiz@metopera.org . This performance will be transmitted live, in high definition and surround sound, into selected movie theaters as part of The Met: Live in HD series, and will be shared with students in more than 150 U.S. schools as part of the Met's HD Live in Schools program. For information on tickets, visit . THE STORY ACT I.

In eighteenth-century Naples, the cynical Don Alfonso discusses women with two young officers, Ferrando and Guglielmo. The gallants insist their sweethearts are paragons of virtue ("La mia Dorabella") and accept Alfonso's bet that he can prove the ladies fickle if they do as he says for twenty-four hours. The sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella compare the merits of their respective beaux, Guglielmo and Ferrando, showing pictures they carry in their lockets ("Ah, guarda, sorella"). Alfonso brings sad news: the young men have been called to their regiment. They appear, and the five make elaborate farewells ("Sento, o Dio"). As soldiers march by, Ferrando and Guglielmo fall in; Fiordiligi, Dorabella and Alfonso sorrowfully wish them a prosperous journey ("Soave sia il vento"). Alfonso, alone, delivers one last jeer at women's inconstancy.

The maid, Despina, advises her mistresses to forget old lovers with the help of new ones ("In uomini, in soldati"), but Dorabella is outraged at her capricious approach to love ("Smanie implacabili"). When the sisters leave, Alfonso comes to bribe Despina to introduce two foreign friends of his to the ladies. Fiordiligi and Dorabella, returning, are scandalized to see the strangers, whom they do not recognize as their lovers, heavily disguised as Albanians. The newcomers declare their admiration for the ladies, but both repulse them, and Fiordiligi likens her fidelity to a rock ("Come scoglio"). The men are thrilled, but Alfonso warns that the bet isn't won yet. Ferrando blissfully looks forward to victory and reunion with his love ("Un'aura amorosa"). When he is gone, Des-pina suggests a plan to Alfonso to win the ladies' sympathy. Alone in their garden, the sisters lament the absence of their lovers. Suddenly the "Albanians" stagger in, pretending to have poisoned themselves in despair over their rejection. Alfonso and Despina run for a doctor.

Meanwhile, the ladies begin to waver; pity for the strangers will be their undoing. Despina returns, disguised as a doctor using Dr. Mesmer's invention, the magnet, to draw out the poison, and urging the sisters to nurse the patients as they recover. The men revive ("Dove son?"), but their increased ardor alarms the women, who angrily refuse their demands for a kiss. The schemers Don Alfonso and Despina (Muraro, Danielle de Niese as Despina) © Beth Bergman 2014 ACT II. Attending her mistresses, Despina lectures them on how to handle men ("Una donna a quindici anni"). Dorabella is easily persuaded that there is no harm in a little flirtation, and surprisingly, Fiordiligi agrees. They decide who will pair off with whom ("Prenderò quel brunettino"). The young men have arranged a serenade in the garden.

Seeing their wager through, Guglielmo ardently pursues Dorabella ("Il core vi dono"), while Ferrando woos Fiordiligi ("Ah, lo veggio quell'anima bella"); when he leaves, she admits he has touched her heart ("Per pietà"), hoping her absent lover will forgive her. When the men compare notes, Guglielmo is glad to see Fiordiligi apparently standing fast but Ferrando is dismayed that Dorabella has given Guglielmo the locket containing his portrait. Guglielmo decries the waywardness of the fair sex ("Donne mie, la fate a tanti!"). Left alone, Ferrando sighs that he still loves Dorabella, though he feels betrayed ("Tradito, schernito"). Fiordiligi rebukes Dorabella for being fickle, although she admits that in her heart she has succumbed to the stranger. Dorabella coaxes her to give way, saying love is a thief and people get robbed every day ("È amore un ladroncello").

Alone, Fiordiligi decides to drag her sister off to join their sweethearts at the front, but when Ferrando, pursuing the wager, enters and threatens suicide, Fiordiligi gives in. Now Guglielmo is furious, but Alfonso counsels forgiveness; that's the way women are, he claims ("Tutti accusan le donne"). A double wedding is arranged between the sisters and the "Albanians." Alfonso brings in the notary - Despina in another disguise. Just as the ladies have signed the marriage contract, familiar martial strains outside herald the return of the former lovers' regiment. In panic, the sisters push their intended husbands from the room and go more or less to pieces when the men reappear without their "Albanian" mufti. Ferrando and Guglielmo storm at the ladies when the marriage contract is discovered. But Alfonso explains the deception, reasoning that true happiness lies not in romantic illusion but in accepting things as they are. Agreeing a trick can work both ways, the lovers are reconciled.

Don Alfonso, Guglielmo and Ferrando hatch their plot (Maurizio Muraro as Don Alfonso, Pogossov, Matthew Polenzani as Ferrando) © Johan Elbers 2014 THE BACKGROUND The fifteenth of Mozart's operas, Così Fan Tutte dates from the final period of his life. If his alacrity in writing Così is explainable in terms of his hectic activity during this period, the score's sparkle and technical and expressive virtuosity seem more remarkable in view of his failing health and many distractions. He used manuscript abbreviations - unusual for him - and adapted music to the specific vocal strengths and weaknesses of the soloists. Legend has it that an actual Viennese scandal prompted Austrian Emperor Joseph II to commission Così Fan Tutte. To turn the story into a libretto, he chose Lorenzo da Ponte, peripatetic scholar, entrepreneur and erstwhile crony of Casanova. Da Ponte had supplied Mozart with texts for Figaro and Don Giovanni. Probably no opera has been subjected to such revision as Così Fan Tutte, for the nineteenth century found the story and libretto unacceptable.

Beethoven lamented that Mozart should have squandered his genius on such a trivial, immoral subject. One day before Mozart's thirty-fourth birthday, Così Fan Tutte had its premiere at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Janu-ary 26, 1790. The work enjoyed repetitions through August and then was dropped, not to be revived in Vienna during the composer's lifetime. He did witness it in Prague, and it soon reached Leipzig and Dresden. The Metropolitan first performed it on March 24, 1922. The present production was unveiled on February 8, 1996.

Ferrando lavishes attention on Fiordiligi (Polenzani, Susanna Phillips as Fiordiligi) Mozart's COSI FAN TUTTE: San Francisco Opera on WRTI, October 5, 1 PM | WRTI Mozart's COSI FAN TUTTE: San Francisco Opera on WRTI, October 5, 1 PM By WRTI Staff • Oct 3, 2013 Related Program: Tweet Share Google+ Email Soprano Christel Lötzsch sings Dorabella in Mozart's opera buffa COSI FAN TUTTE. Two young soldiers disguise their identities to test their lovers' fidelity in this Mozart masterpiece, a sublime and sometimes startling mix of hilarious farce and poignant drama first performed in 1790.

The immensely talented young cast includes Ellie Dehn, "a charismatic soprano with great stage presence" (Wall Street Journal) who sang Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (2011) and Countess Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro (2010); Susannah Biller praised by Opera News for her "gleaming tone"; and Francesco Demuro, "an artist not merely spectacular, but profound" (Seattle Times). Conducting will be music director Nicola Luisotti, "an inexhaustible, graceful conduit of music...always elegant, refined and precise" (Opera News). Saturday, October 5, 1 to 4 pm. Cast: Synopsis ACT I Don Alfonso is trying to enlighten Ferrando and Guglielmo as to the true nature of women. He places a bet that he can prove their fiancées, Fiordiligi and Dorabella, are not the icons of purity the men believe them to be. Both sides are confident of victory within twenty-four hours. Sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella are celebrating the perfection of their lovers. Don Alfonso arrives and tells them that their men have been called up and must leave immediately for the battlefront.

The men enact a farewell scene of “go off to war.” The women are devastated but the maid Despina tells them to look on the bright side and have a good time in their absence—in other words, behave exactly as men do. Don Alfonso and Despina work together to this end. Don Alfonso introduces two Albanian friends whom Despina in turn introduces to the sisters. None of the three women penetrate the disguises of Ferrando and Guglielmo. Fiordiligi and Dorabella are offended to see the strange men and are repelled by their advances. They declare fidelity to their lovers. The young men are delighted, but Don Alfonso is quite relaxed. The sisters continue to grieve. The two rejected strangers return to them, swallow “poison,” and collapse. The terrified girls call for Despina, who goes with Don Alfonso to find a doctor. Fiordiligi and Dorabella try to help the “dying” strangers. Don Alfonso returns with Despina disguised as a doctor who claims to cure everything by magnetism. The men revive and, believing they are in heaven, demand a kiss from their angels Fiordiligi and Dorabella.

The sisters manage to resist again. ACT II Despina persuades the sisters to befriend their new admirers. They decide on preferences—Dorabella chooses Guglielmo, and Fiordiligi chooses Ferrando. Each has instinctively chosen the other’s partner. Don Alfonso and Despina cement the new love affairs in the context of a masquerade. The couples pair up and Dorabella yields to Guglielmo. Fiordligi rejects Ferrando, for the time being. Ferrando and Guglielmo exchange notes on their progress. Ferrando is furious, and Guglielmo is triumphant but brutally dismissive of the fallen Dorabella. Despina and Dorabella put pressure on Fiordiligi. Fiordiligi decides she must run away to join Guglielmo at war, but Ferrando confronts her again and she too yields. Agonized, Guglielmo witnesses it all. Don Alfonso has proven his point and won the bet. Don Alfonso and Despina arrange for the new couples to be “married” by Despina disguised as a notary.

As the girls sign their names, a military band is heard. Apparently the soldiers have returned unexpectedly. In the confusion, the two men disappear, reemerging without their disguises. Shocked at the evidence of a wedding they swear vengeance on their rivals. The plot is revealed. All four lovers’ certainties have been destroyed. No one quite knows what to feel, except that certainly human nature has been at work. Così fan tutte | Opera | Opera North | Opera North Comment Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1790) It starts with a casual bet. The wily old cynic Don Alfonso wagers that the fiancées of two young men, complacent in their romantic notions of love, won’t stay faithful for a minute if put to the test. It sounds harmless enough and, anyway, the lovers are entirely sure of themselves. But cruelty is inherent in this game of love and chance. Mozart created some of his most dazzlingly beautiful music for Così fan tutte and with unsparing accuracy, truthfulness and sparkling humour he explores the themes of trust and deception, and loyalty and desire in romantic relationships.

Director Tim Albery has had a long and distinguished association with Opera North over the last 30 years, from his groundbreaking production of The Trojans in the 1980s to his recent five-star (The Observer) production of The Coronation of Poppea (2014). Go to this production: there are lots of good Cosìs, but this is in a class apart. The Spectator Cosi fan tutte (“They All Do It”) Premiere: Vienna, January 26, 1790 Mozart's final comic opera, Cosi fan tutte, a laughing look at the twists and turns of romantic love, was originally attacked for portraying faithless women. Some early performances were even accompanied by apologies for the frivolous plot. The story begins in a Neapolitan caf é , where two young men, Ferrando and Guglielmo, argue with the older and more skeptical Don Alfonso that their fiancées, the sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella, would never betray them. Aided by Despina, the sisters' maid, the men hatch a plot to test the women's loyalty.

They disguise themselves as soldiers and woo each other's lovers, managing through various tricks to win over the initially reluctant women. As deeper feelings surface, however, the suitors become uneasy with their antics, and once the deception is unmasked, the four reunite, though who pairs up with whom remains a mystery. Cosi fan Tutte Tale of infidelity still delights Cosi Fan Tutte Wolverhampton Grand Theatre **** ENGLISH Touring Opera made a return to Wolverhampton Grand Theatre with two ambitious new titles for Spring 2013; Cosi Fan Tutte, and Simon Boccanegra ,performed on successive nights, Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte, with a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, who also collaborated on Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni , was first performed in 1790, two hundred and thirteen years ago, is still one of the 20 most performed operas. The title “Cosi Fan Tutte” first appeared in Le Nozze Di Figaro, and means literally “Thus do all [women]" but it is usually translated as "Women are like that".

This production, directed by Paul Higgins, sung in English using Martin Fitzpatrick's translation, is performed with brio and panache Designer Samal Blak juxtaposes a simple, sometimes Spartan set, with sumptuous costuming, and colour dominated by pastels and creams. The intimate setting of the Grand is ideally suited to this opera with the entire set focused on a garden swing for the first act, the inspiration for which came both from artistic depictions of the Garden of Eden – with characters under a willow tree – and eighteenth-century paintings such as Fragonard's The Swing. However the physical absence of even a potted plant for the second act meant that the stage and props manager were able to take the evening off. Its traditional 18th century setting in Naples is most welcome. The narrative explores suspicion, infidelity and jealousy in light comic mood but with a dark subtext in which close friends are manoeuvred into seducing each other's girl-friend, testing the dynamics and limits of relationships.

Although the infidelity of women is exposed through the ladies falling to temptation, Despina brazenly encourages them to play the field and wise Don Alfonso, rather than making a moral judgement, simply reflects that "Cosi fan Tutte". Cosi fan tutte . . . Dorabella and Fiordiligi Soprano Laura Mitchell plays Fiordilgi, one of Mozart's Grande Donne, a demanding role with a range from the top of the stave plunging down to cellar deep low notes. The best known aria of the work “Come Scoglio”, in Act One, tested her early on with its taxing high tessitura, but she was equal to it. She was even better in Act 2 with “Per Pieta”. Dorabella (Kitty Whatley) and Fiordilgi are convincing friends who fall in love with suitors, and are then duped by them. Whatley's powerful mezzo-soprano occasionally dominated their duets, but it is soprano Paula Sides as housemaid Despina, who dominates the production and whose comic turns with the impressive Don Alfonso (Richard Mosley Evans) are a highlight of the evening.

Sides is the perfect buffa soubrette during "In uomini' and excels in “Una donna a quindici anni". Sassy and streetwise she makes the most of a wonderfully written part and revels in cameos as a physician and notary. The suitors playing opposite the young women are Guglielmo (Toby Girling) and Ferrando (Anthony Gregory). Director Higgins offers a nod to Commedia dell'arte traditions in the semi-white face of Ferrando and Guglielmo before they assume their Albanian disguises of which Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat would have been proud. Anthony Gregory contrasts beauty in, "un' aura amorosa" , with the anguish of "tradito, schernito" in accomplished style, but the on- stage rapport with co-conspirator Girling lacks conviction. Their lascivious desires are bawdily explored not least with the opening scene in which both enthusiastically polish their pommels.

Duets, parallel thirds, imitation and reprise are all prominent features of Mozart's score, Higgins does well to mix and match to get the best out of all concerned, the closing sextet with its subtle physical movement reinforces the sense of fluidity and change in an opera which is essentially a dramatic examination of love. The complexity and beauty of the musical score is a delight, although occasionally you sense that some of the vocal combinations are written simply so that Mozart can show off his talent rather than to advance the plot. The orchestra was directed by James Burton who brought the best out of the sections with the woodwind for which Cosi is renowned, the clarinets were sonorous and soared. Cosi has been described as a heartless farce with heavenly music, but its accessibility and popularity are beyond doubt and was enthusiastically received by an appreciative audience for an enjoyable production 15-04-13 Gary Longden The ETO are touring Cosi Fan Tutte, Simon Boccanaegra and The Siege of Calais to Aldeburgh,Durham, Bixton, Cheltenham, Warwick, Perth, Cambridge, Guilford and Truro till the end of May. And cosy at the back . . .

**** THIS very amusing tale is considered to have Mozart's most perfect opera score, and a terrific cast in period costume delivered the musical treat in great style. It was sung in English, and the title means 'This is How Everyone Does it', which is soon explained by the intrigue involved in philosopher Don Alfonso's argument about the true nature of love. He challenges two young officers, Ferrando and Guglielmo, that their fiancees are not the icons of purity they believe, and the pair confidently accept a bet convinced they can prove him wrong. The plots leads to many sparkling scenes after Don Alfonso, impressively played by Richard Mosley-Evans, tells the ladies their lovers have been urgently called to war, prompting their maid, Despina, to suggest they enjoy themselves in the men's absence. And when Don Alfonso's 'Albanian' friends are introduced to sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella, they don't see through the disguises and the fun really starts.

Anthony Gregory (Ferrando), Toby Girling (Guglielmo), Laura Mitchell (Fiordiligi) and Kitty Whately (Dorabella) sang superbly and there was a delightful performance from Paula Sides as Despina. Cosi Fan Tutte was directed by Paul Higgins, with James Burton conducting a fine orchestra. Paul Marston Così fan tutte in a nutshell | Opera | Opera North Così fan tutte in a nutshell 10 Jan 2016 Così fan tutte. Photo credit: Tristram Kenton All you need to know about Mozart's opera Così fan tutte in one place — right here! What is the story about? The opera’s full title Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti means ‘Thus do they all, or The School for Lovers’. The story begins with a wily old cynic and experimental philosopher, Don Alfonso, who determines to overturn the perfect, formulaic worlds of two young men, named Ferrando and Gugliemo. He bets them that their respective fiancées would not stay faithful for a moment if put to the test, and the challenge is accepted.

Before long, fiancées (and sisters) Fiordiligi and Dorabella discover that their lovers are leaving to ‘go to war’, and two handsome strangers (Ferrando and Gugliemo in disguise) arrive on a mission of seduction… As Don Alfonso ups the ante and throws increasingly extreme situations at all four lovers, they begin to react emotionally and each character cannot help but reveal, and discover, who they really are. With certainty a distant memory, who knows how the story will end? Not afraid of spoilers? Check out this fun cartoon strip of the plot Who are the main characters? The Girls Don Alfonso (an old cynic) Despina (a maid) Use this fun diagram to find out more about the characters and their interwoven relationships. Così fan tutte is often said to be the perfect ensemble opera. A small cast, the six roles are almost equal in weight and equal in importance to the piece, without a ‘leading lady’. What is the music like? Così fan tutte contains some of the most dazzlingly beautiful music ever written by Mozart.

One particularly notable moment is Fiordiligi’s show-stopping aria ‘Come scoglio’ (in English, ‘Like a fortress’), which is very popular as a concert piece. Full of spectacular vocal fireworks, Fiordiligi declares with determination that she will remain faithful to her fiancé. What is this production like? Tim Albery’s production of Così fan tutte , originally conceived back in 2004, is set in the era of the enlightenment, a time of social, as well as scientific, experiments. The action takes place inside a giant mahogany box or ‘camera obscura’, which opens to reveal a strikingly simple set in which the action takes place. The doors of the set open as rat flaps to let characters in or out of the experiment. The costumes are designed in 18th Century style and are gorgeously lavish, but also function as a device to represent the gradual emotional liberation of the characters. Therefore formal wigs and monochrome/silver give way to brighter colours and increasingly informal dress as the opera goes on, and each characters becomes more individual. Visit the Così fan tutte webpage to see some photos from previous runs of the production… Così fan tutte.

Photo credit: Tristram Kenton A little more about the opera Who was the composer? Così fan tutte was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, perhaps the most famous composer of all time! It premiered in Vienna on 26 January 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo da Ponte, who was also Mozart’s librettist on the highly successful operas The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni. Mozart c.1780, detail from portrait by Johann Nepomuk della Croce (left) Lorenzo Da Ponte, engraving by Michele Pekenino after Nathaniel Rogers What style is the opera in? Mozart’s operas were written at the height of the classical period in music history – a time of elegance, beauty, refinement and grace. They are written in the classical ‘recitative and aria’ structure (recitative being the ‘story-telling’ between arias where singers adopt the rhythms of speech accompanied by a ‘continuo’ e.g. a harpsicord).

The musical phrases are perfectly crafted and balance each other equally, and Così fan tutte in particular contains an intricate combination of arias, duets, trios, quartets and sextets, with the vocal lines closely interwoven. A little trivia… The storyline of Così fan tutte , based around infidelity, was considered very scandalous in the 19th Century. Therefore anytime the opera was performed it was accompanied by an apology for the frivolous plot, altered or sometimes completely rewritten! In 1994, two works by Mozart’s contemporary Antonio Salieri were discovered, showing that Salieri also attempted to set the libretto of Così fan tutte to music, but did not complete the project. The words ‘Così fan tutte’ are sung by the men in Act II, just before the finale. Librettist da Ponte had also used the line ‘Così fan tutte le belle’ previously in The Marriage of Figaro. Mozart’s own life slightly resembled the story of Così fan tutte for a time – a few years before he married his wife Constanze Weber, he was engaged to her sister Aloysia.

Mozart created the role of Fiordiligi for da Ponte’s mistress Adriana Ferrarese del Bene. However, he disliked her intensely, and, knowing her idiosyncratic tendency to drop her chin on low notes and throw back her head on high ones, he filled her showpiece aria ‘Come scoglio’ (‘Like a rock/fortress’) with constant leaps from low to high and high to low in order to make the prima donna’s head “bob like a chicken” onstage! Così fan tutte is in 2 acts with one interval, and lasts approximately 3 hours in total. For more info or to book tickets, visit the Così fan tutte webpage. In a nutshell is a new blog series devised by Opera North. What you say CosÌ fan tutte | Festival International d'Art Lyrique d'Aix-en-Provence Che più saggi ormai saranno. I deceived you but my deception Was meant to undeceive your lovers, Who will henceforth both be wiser.

Lorenzo Da Ponte, Così fan tutte, act II, finale (1790) The officers Ferrando and Guglielmo are engaged to two sisters, Dorabella and Fiordiligi. To prove to an old philosopher that their beloved fiancées are faithful, they pretend to have been called away to war, only to return in disguise to court the women under false identities. But their plan comes unstuck when they each find themselves trying to seduce the other’s fiancée... Will the original couples emerge unscathed from this game of love and cruelty? Filmmaker and stage director Christophe Honoré gets to grips with this question in a new production that explores the power relationships between these characters who are ruled by desire. Under a scorching sun, to the strains of a score imbued with light and shade that brings Mozart so close to Marivaux, an atmosphere of humid sensuality will be conjured up by the Freiburger Barockorchester, under the direction of two eminent Mozart specialists: Louis Langrée and Jérémie Rohrer. Così fan tutte, opera, K. 588 | Details | AllMusic Così fan tutte, opera, K.

588 Share this page google+ Description by Allen Schrott Così fan tutte (All women act that way) is the last of Mozart 's three "da Ponte" operas -- those composed to libretti by Lorenzo da Ponte (the other two are Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni). Long neglected and misunderstood, Così emerged from obscurity in the twentieth century and has come to be regarded as among the composer's finest, if also most problematic, works. It has been assumed that the opera was commissioned by Emperor Joseph II, probably sometime during the summer of 1789. Coming as it did during a fallow period in Mozart 's output, the work was a financial boon to him and allowed for the repayment of some debt. Little is known about the creation of the work, but the first rehearsal took place in Mozart's apartment on January 21, 1790, and the first performance was at the Burgtheater in Vienna five days later. This initial run was extremely brief, due to Joseph II's death after only five performances had been mounted; the closing of the Viennese theaters prevented any further performances until June.

Da Ponte's libretto is presumed to be an original work, but its numerous literary precedents included episodes in Ovid's Metamorphosis as well as da Ponte's own libretto for Martin y Soler 's L'abore di Diana; the latter was written coincidentally with Così. Suggestions that the plot was based on actual events within Viennese society have not been substantiated. Two friends, Ferrando and Guglielmo, wager with Don Alfonso that their lovers, Fiordiligi and Dorabella, will remain constant in their absence. To prove the point, they depart under false pretenses and return as "Albanians" who try to woo the women away. The libretto has long been considered flimsy, misogynistic, immoral, and dramatically unresolvable. However, any judgement of the opera as a whole must take account of Mozart 's exceedingly fine and deeply interesting score. Through music, Fiordiligi transcends her role as the victim of cruel manipulation, revealing a complex personality that is sincere, capable of growth, and inarguably sympathetic.

In contrast, Guglielmo never progresses beyond concern for his own ego and interests; his music, fittingly, remains within the stock traditions of opera buffa. Each of the six characters receives an equally insightful portrait, and the ambigous nature of the ending (who actually loves whom?), while vexing to directors and audiences, can be seen as appropriate, given the emotional issues aired during the drama. The marriage of Mozart 's score and da Ponte's libretto represents the apotheosis of the opera buffa genre (making its setting in Naples -- the birthplace of the genre -- all the more appropriate) and embodies the best of the Classical era. Moments that, at first glance, seem transparent, formulaic, and impersonal become instead clarifying, organic, and genuinely inspired. There is an unusually large number of vocal ensembles in the score, far more than are found in either Don Giovanni or Figaro. All of these highlight Mozart 's unique fusion of symphonic techniques with lyrical expression.

The best-known ensemble is undoubtedly the trio "Soave sia il vento," sung by Fiordiligi, Dorabella, and Don Alfonso, in which farce, grief, and the musical depiction of gentle waves are seamlessly combined to form one of opera's brightest gems. The finales of both acts are typically Mozartean in their complexity, ambition, and symphonic logic, and, especially in the case of the Act One finale, they are arguably finer than those composed for any other of his operas. The combination of logical, restrained structure and lyrical outpouring in these finales encapsulates Mozart 's unique operatic voice.

Parts/Movements La mia Dorabella capace non è È la fede delle femine come l'araba fenice Una bella serenata Vorrei dir, e cor non ho, e cor non ho Sento, o Dio, che questo piede Al fato dàn legge quegli occhi vezzosi Bella vita militar Ah che tutta in un momento (Finale) Una donna a quindici anni dee saper ogni gran moda Prendero quel brunettino, che piu lepido mi par Secondate, aurette amiche La mano a me date Il core vi dono, bell' idolo mio! Ah!

Lo veggio, quell' anima bella al mio pianto resister non sa Per pietà, ben mio, perdona, all' error (Rondo) Donne mie, la fate a tanti, a tanti, a tanti Tradito, schernito dal perfido cor (Cavatina) È Amore un ladroncello FGO’s Cosi Fan Tutte Is Hilariously Comic And Indefensibly Cruel | Florida Theater On Stage FGO’s Cosi Fan Tutte Is Hilariously Comic And Indefensibly Cruel Jason Slayden, Jonathan Beyer, Brenda Patterson and Sari Gruber in Florida Grand Opera’s Cosi Fan Tutte / Photo by Rod Millingon By Bill Hirschman At the end of Florida Grand Opera’s beautifully performed and unusually comical edition of the classic Mozart farce Cosi Fan Tutte, you’ll want to take the heroes and their instigating buddy into a dark alley and beat all three of them with a two-by-four. By all too successfully depicting the sadistic emotional vise that the heroines are crushed in, director Bernard Uzan and a glorious cast intentionally or unintentionally gut the opera’s blithe misogynistic ethos.

The men are cruel, heartless jerks who trick the women they love into being unfaithful to prove what everyone knows, which is, of course, that all women are unfaithful. Even though it’s okay for men to cheat. Yes, this philosophy was accepted thinking in 1790 — at least in the minds of men. But this production, which remains a quite funny farce, can’t dodge in 2015 that two soldiers wreak pain on their supposedly beloved fiancés by disguising themselves and then seducing each friend’s betrothed by threatening to kill themselves if the women don’t succumb. A laff riot as they say in vaudeville. Cosi Fan Tutte, which translate roughly as “All women are like this…” contains some of Mozart’s most beautiful music. FGO does full justice to the challenge with such moving moments as the women and the soldiers’ buddy singing a plaintive farewell as the soldiers pretend to leave for war in “Soave sia il vento.” Praise is due conductor Ramon Tebar and the opening night principals. Tenor Jason Slayden as Ferrando and baritone Jonathan Beyer as Guglielmo, are the soldiers.

Basso Arthur Woodley is the genially self-satisfied Iago who dares the men into the trick and soprano Ava Pine is the saucy sex-obsessed maid, Despina. Lyric mezzo Brenda Patterson as Dorabella and the especially fine soprano Sari Gruber as Fiordiligi are the sisters. All but Woodley are making their local debuts. A second cast alternates. Purists might argue that Uzan has taken the comedy too far, but it certainly makes this an unusually accessible and entertaining evening if you can get past the misogyny. When Ferrando is caressing Fiordoligi as she is singing, he drops to his knees and lets his hands wander. When it reaches her breast, her soprano suddenly peaks. Earlier, Fiordoligi pretends to faint and her sister realizes she needs to do the same. The disguised suitors trying to win their quarries’ affection, cynically enter a scene stroking a puppy and a kitten like that Jim Beam commercial of a few years ago. The sisters wear glasses to explain why they might not recognize their beaus in disguise. All of the principals have the requisite strong, expressive voices that negotiate most of the score effortlessly.

But they are also game for the comedy whether it’s a broad grimace, tossing in a hip thrust for emphasis or taking a baggy pants comic’s slight pause in timing before a laugh lyric. The lively Pine especially makes for a joyful if heartless accomplice to Woodley’s plot. Visually, the FGO-owned production borrows heavily from Miamian Riccardo Hernandez’s 2007 set design adapted for Uzan who transposes the plot to a resort-salon on the Cote D’Azur sometime between 1920 and 1960. Howard Tsvi Kaplan’s vibrant costumes encompass haute couture gowns with copious jewels, smartly tailored soldiers’ uniforms, indulgent gypsy costumes for the slumming ladies and a rainbow of sherbet colors for the soldiers’ disguises as turbaned Turks, Albanians or denizens of some imaginary country. The FGO orchestra spun Mozart’s lovely score like molten gold under the baton of Tebar, who also tinkled the harpsichord keys during the recitatives.

FGO is facing serious fiscal problems, seriously imperiling its future at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts next season, but you can’t tell from this production. Florida Grand Opera performs Cosi Fan Tutte at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Friday and Saturday at the Arsht Center’s Ziff House, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. Tickets $19-$175; (800) 741-1010. Also, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12 and 14 at the Broward Center Au-Rene Theater, 201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale. Tickets $21-$200; (800) 741-1010. More information at fgo.org. To read about the threat to FGO staying in Broward, click here .

Question: Which 1790 Mozart opera features the heroines Dorabella and Fiordiligi?
Answer: Cosi Fan Tutte